Vows
from 
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JoeUser Forums
With palms together,
Good Morning All,
There are Four Great Vows we Zen Buddhists recite each and every day. These are the vows that distinguish us as bodhisattvas, awakened beings. To take these vows means we have the aim of awakening through action in service to others. In this sense, service to self is service to others. Being awake is this precise realization.
What are these vow great vows?
Beings are numberless; I vow to free them.
Delusions are inexhaustible; I vow to end them.
Dharma gates are boundless; I vow to enter them.
The buddha way is unsurpassable; I vow to realize it.
We should study these vows carefully and very closely. They are the essential koans of our life. Remember, the key to koan practice is not to get stuck on the word, but to enter it completely. Words take us into thought and thus into delusion. Instead, we must experience these vows, we must realize them. In the end, we attain them. Know that the end and the beginning are one.
The wording of these vows, a translation from the Soto Shu, is better than their last effort in my opinion. In the old version, we are to "save" all beings. This "save" is far too easily confused with the Christian sense of the term. Free is way better. It is cleaner and more precisely to the point.
Zen Buddhists are all about liberation. Liberation from the suffering caused by rigidity, the trappings of mental activity, the mud of memory.Our practice is in this present moment. Here, there is no mud, no mental activity sticking to our mind, no rigidity. There is just this.
So, as we rise and take our first step, let that step be both in peace and in the direction of generosity.
Be well.
Good Morning All,
There are Four Great Vows we Zen Buddhists recite each and every day. These are the vows that distinguish us as bodhisattvas, awakened beings. To take these vows means we have the aim of awakening through action in service to others. In this sense, service to self is service to others. Being awake is this precise realization.
What are these vow great vows?
Beings are numberless; I vow to free them.
Delusions are inexhaustible; I vow to end them.
Dharma gates are boundless; I vow to enter them.
The buddha way is unsurpassable; I vow to realize it.
We should study these vows carefully and very closely. They are the essential koans of our life. Remember, the key to koan practice is not to get stuck on the word, but to enter it completely. Words take us into thought and thus into delusion. Instead, we must experience these vows, we must realize them. In the end, we attain them. Know that the end and the beginning are one.
The wording of these vows, a translation from the Soto Shu, is better than their last effort in my opinion. In the old version, we are to "save" all beings. This "save" is far too easily confused with the Christian sense of the term. Free is way better. It is cleaner and more precisely to the point.
Zen Buddhists are all about liberation. Liberation from the suffering caused by rigidity, the trappings of mental activity, the mud of memory.Our practice is in this present moment. Here, there is no mud, no mental activity sticking to our mind, no rigidity. There is just this.
So, as we rise and take our first step, let that step be both in peace and in the direction of generosity.
Be well.